Murray and Fleming silence boisterous Croat fans to put GB within touching distance of Davis Cup World Group

Andy Murray and Colin Fleming defied a partisan crowd to put Great Britain's Davis Cup team in sight of promotion to the World Group on a noisy afternoon in Umag.

The two childhood friends combined to defeat Croatia's top pairing of Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, thus giving GB a 2-1 lead going into tomorrow's final two singles matches.

If Murray can defeat Dodig in the first of those matches Leon Smith's team will cap a fine summer for British tennis by reaching the elite 16-team top level next season for the first time in six years.

Full focus: Andy Murray stands at the net as Colin Fleming serves during the victory over Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic

Despite the atmosphere being rowdier than yesterday - including repeated shouts from the home crowd between first and second serves and the winding up of an air raid siren - the Scottish duo put in a near flawless performance, aside from a late wobble in the third set.

Captain Leon Smith opted to put the Wimbledon champion in, although he plays doubles relatively rarely throughout the year and there being concerns about his back.

Murray did not let him down and the hope will be that his back, which seems to disagree with clay court tennis, will be strong enough to cope with tomorrow's stiff test against the world No 35.

The GB duo could hardly have played
better in the first two sets. They broke Pavic, the world number 89, in
his very first service game and then comfortably held on to take the
set.

In unison: Fleming and Murray were in fine form to put Great Britain within touching distance of the World Group

Despite becoming irritated by local music blaring from a nearby bar, they bore down in the second set and broke both Croatians to claim a 2-0 lead.

When they got another early break to lead in the third it looked all plain sailing, to the delight a large contingent of travelling supporters. But then Murray was broken, only for Dodig's serve to fail him to put the Brits 2-1 up in the set.

Doubles specialist Fleming had played outstandingly well until this point, but then tightened up and was broken to make it 4-4.

In
the tiebreak GB edged ahead 3-0 and 5-3 and had a match point against
serve at 6-5 which Dodig easily took. Then Fleming double faulted at 6-7
to breathe renewed life into the match.

But
in what had become gruellingly hot temperatures at this seaside resort
the visitors quickly snatched the momentum back by breaking Pavic, and
after going 5-1 up Fleming was able to serve the match out.

Claymaker: Fleming volleys against Croatia

Murray told British Eurosport after the match: 'Colin played exceptionally well, bar a couple of points in the third set, and we dominated the majority of it.'

Dodig awaits Murray in singles action on Sunday, and facing him in doubles has given the Wimbledon champion an insight into what he can expect.

'It definitely helps,' Murray said. 'You get a feel for the return and I returned his serve fairly well today. I felt I got a pretty good read of it which will hopefully help tomorrow.'

Fleming could only appreciate the quality of his doubles partner.

'His returns are phenomenal,' Fleming said. 'He's a great player. He's able to figure things out during the match, knows when momentum is

Waving the flag: Great Britain had some marvellous support from the stands